Positive thinking key to diet
THE way we think about things can affect our bodies and the way that we feel. We have a tendency to tag things in positive and negative ways.
Food is a good example of this, and for people who are trying to reduce weight the way that they think can have a marked impact on their success.
An interesting piece of research from Chicago found that food which we think of as 'healthy' can actually make you hungrier. The researchers performed several studies on perception of food. In the first a group of students were asked to sample a chocolate-raspberry protein bar. One third were either told they were sampling 'a new health bar, containing lots of protein, vitamins and fibre', and another third were told they were sampling a 'chocolate bar that is very tasty and yummy with a chocolate-raspberry core.' Another third were asked to examine the bars and rate their hunger but not eat either.
Afterwards they were all asked to rate their hunger. Those who thought they were given a 'healthy' bar were hungrier than either those with the 'yummy' bar, or the non-eaters. This backs up the impression obtained from previous research that when people think of healthier food they perceive it as less tasty and less satisfying.
In a second study, sixty-two people were given a piece of bread alternately described as being 'low-fat and nutritious' or 'tasty, with a thick crust and soft centre.' After sampling the bread, they were offered a snack of pretzels, which are considered a 'neutral' food.
They found people who had been given 'healthy' bread ate more pretzels than those who sampled the 'tasty' bread.
In a third study, researchers offered students a choice of chocolate-raspberry protein bar or a honey-peanut protein bar. This time the bars were randomly described as 'healthy' and 'tasty'. Interestingly where people were given the choice there was no difference in hunger levels afterward between the two groups.
These three studies suggest the part that the mind plays. We tend to tag foods as being positive and healthy, or negative and indulgent. But, it seems that when we think of food as being especially 'healthy' we perceive it as being less tasty and less satisfying. It seems that if you are trying to eat healthily, you need to think of your food as 'tasty.'
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Weather for Wakefield
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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